Laos, Hmong Veterans Burial Honors Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate

February 07, 2013 04:05 PM Eastern Standard Time

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Representative Jim Costa
(D-California), and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress, are
advancing legislation that would grant burial honors to Lao and
Hmong-American veterans of the Vietnam War in Laos, according to the
Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and
leading Lao and Hmong-American organizations.

“Americans who served and fought and put their lives on the line receive
a resting place in our national cemeteries; the men who saved American
lives deserve the same honor,” Senator Murkowski stated.

“We are grateful that U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced new
legislation in the U.S. Senate to grant burial honors, and burial
benefits, to the Laotian and Hmong veterans who heroically served in the
‘U.S. Secret Army’ in Laos during the Vietnam War,” said Colonel Wangyee
Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute
(LVAI), headquartered in Fresno, California.

“We continue to work, and make progress, on this important effort in
Washington, D.C., to honor our fellow Lao and Hmong veterans, their
families and the entire Lao and Hmong-American community,” Colonel Vang
stated further. “Senator Murkowski’s bill is crucial companion
legislation to a counterpart bill in the U.S. House of Representatives
authored by U.S. Congressman Jim Costa.”

“We seek to provide our veterans burial benefits at U.S. national
veterans’ cemeteries so they can rest with honor and dignity,” Vang
commented.

The LVAI has spearhead efforts in Washington, D.C., and across the
United States, in support of the initiative to grant burial honors to
Lao and Hmong veterans.

“Senator Murkowski’s and Congressman Costa’s historic legislation, if
passed in Congress and signed by President Obama, would authorize the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit Laotian and Hmong veterans of
the Vietnam War in Laos to be buried, or cremated, at U.S. national
veterans cemeteries,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA.http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

“Clearly, it is long overdue and important for the U.S. government to
proactively recognize and honor the sacrifices of the Lao and Hmong
veterans of the ‘U.S. Secret Army,’ especially their critical and unique
contribution to U.S. national security interests during the Vietnam
War,” Smith stated. “America should grant the surviving Lao and Hmong
veterans historic burial rights, and honors, at U.S. national veterans’
cemeteries.”

Smith said: “In the previous session of Congress, which ended in
December, a bipartisan coalition of 32 Members of Congress in the House
cosponsored the ‘Lao Hmong Veterans’ Burial Honors Act,’ H.R. 3192.”